TEAM USA CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH TWO SPECIAL BROADCASTS ON NBC

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the Olympic and Paralympic Games PyeongChang 2018 beginning this February on the networks of NBCUniversal, NBC is closing out 2017 with a pair of special Team USA broadcasts to get fans excited about the 2018 Games.

The “2017 Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Year” recognizes great performances and the great personalities of America’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. On New Year’s Eve, “Scouting Camp: The Next Olympic Hopeful” takes fans inside the Olympic Training Center for a look at what goes into making Team USA.

More than 50 Team USA athletes and special guests – including Team USA legends Carl Lewis and Janet Evans – join singer and actor Mark McGrath as he hosts the 2017 “Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Year.” The awards show recognizes outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes, teams and coaches from the past year. The show also features an emotional Olympic medal reallocation to four-time Olympic high jump sensation Chaunté Lowe, who was presented with her bronze medal from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 during a special medal ceremony. The awards show was recorded live on Nov. 29 at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles.

NBC will present the “Scouting Camp: The Next Olympic Hopeful,” an original United States Olympic Committee Production, on New Year’s Eve on NBC to close out a great 2017 for Team USA. The Next Olympic Hopeful is a talent identification program, supported by USOC sponsor 24 Hour Fitness, to increase and enhance the pipeline of world-class athletes pursuing Olympic sport. Of the nearly 3,000 participants, 91 elite athletes went through five days of intensive screening and sport-specific evaluation at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. before the eight winners emerged. The winners were invited to join the national team camps for the four participating sports – bobsled, skeleton, track cycling and rugby – in hopes of continuing their journey to the Olympic Games.